Book stop device



Feb. 18, 1964 H. E. BERK BOOK STOP DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2. 1961 F/GZ INVENTOR.

A fl/V4F0 45'. 551?! Feb. 18, 1964 H. E. BERK BOOK STOP DEVICE Filed Feb. 2. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W W 1 w fl/ Feb. 18, 1964 H. E. BERK BOOKVSTOP DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 2, 1961 INVENTOR.

flawflo A. Ef/F'K United States Patent M 3,121,494 3 89K STU? DEVECE Howard E. Berk, 148-03 Newport Ave, Rockaway Beach, FLY. Filed Feb. 2, E51, Ser. No.'86,636 1 Claim. (6!. 211-43) This invention relates to shelving and, more particularly, to a device for positioning books upon open-ended book shelves.

Ordinarily. conventional book stops or bookends are inadequate to support books in a selected position along the length of open end book shelves, since such primarily depend upon friction between the bookend and the supporting shelf to maintain the parts in their selected position. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide adjustable apparatus for use with open end book shelves and which can beconvenient-ly adjusted to the particular arrangement of the shelf system, and which will provide a rigid book stop for all types of books upon such shelves.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a book stop assembly for use with open end book shelves of the type described, which may be rigidly mounted relative to the shelves in an attractive and effective manner, and which can be conveniently adjusted to support such books in any desired position along the entire length thereof.

The invention here described is for use with book shelves which are free or open at one or both ends and, therefore, require bookends or installed vertical uprights to prevent books from falling off. This includes shelf systems which employ vertical supports of wood or metal which are fastened to the wall of a room. Into the vertical support are fastened forward projecting brackets of desired lengths, the length of the bracket being suflicient to accommodate a shelf of the desired depth. The brackets may be moved to various levels up and down the vertical supports (often called standards), and two or more brackets at the same horizontal level support a shelf laid across them.

A major disadvantage of these shelves has been the lack of a satisfactory means of preventing books from falling off the free ends of the shelves. Standard bookends are employed, but these depend on the friction between the bookend and the supporting shelf to maintain their position, and the weight of one book leaning in a row of books, or the pressure of an extra book forced into an already nearly full row can push a bookend and the adjacent books off the end of the shelf. A consequence of this is that persons having such shelves usually avoid using six or more inches of each end of the shelf. Vertical strips or pegs of wood may be fixed to the ends, but this requires some mutilation of the shelf, is permanent and inflexible, and detracts from the inherent simplicity of free hanging shelves.

The bookend or book stop device here disclosed is fastened firmly to, and is wholly supported by an upright (standard) of the open shelf system and by light pressure at right angles to the face of the supporting wall. When a vertical standard is not available as in the case of a single shelf supported by right angle brackets beneath, the book-stop device can be attached by a plate to the Wall or on a post attached to the shelf. When the vertical upright is available either the perforated metal type (shown in the drawings) or the wood-strip type attachment is accomplished without tools and without damage to the upright or to the wall, and there is no contact with the shelf.

Several types of this hook-stop device are presented, all of which may be used with either the metal or wood 3,,l2lA-tl4 Patented Feb. 18, 1964 type standard. All are adjustable so that they may be moved to various heights on the standard to accommodate books of a particular height, and they may be moved laterally so that books may be kept at the very end of a shelf or at a desired distance from the end of the shelf. All types can be used to maintain groupings of books along the entire length of a shelf. Standard sizes are suggested by the sizes of the most commonly used standards, but the principle may be employed in smaller or larger sizes as well.

Except for the end plate, which may be kept simple but does lend itself to adornment and special shapes and materials, all parts of all types of this s lf-stop device are hidden by the books. Thus the simplicity of the shelf-system is maintained by this shelf-stop device, and concomitantly the utility and security of the shelf is considerably increased.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a set of book stop devices which can be readily adjusted in size and arrangement with respect to open end book shelves, which can be manufactured at a relatively low cost, will conform to the general. appearance of such wall mounted type book shelves, and which is completely independent of frictional support of the book shelves themselves for maintaining the parts in the desired position.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and ad vantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a book stop assembly made in accordance with one form of the present invention as in actual use.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of certain parts of the assembly shown in FIG. 1, drawn to an enlarged scale.

'FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view partly in section, of one form of securement means for attaching the book stop assembly upon vertically slotted standards.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of construction.

PIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line =6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of still another form of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a transverse cross-sectional View taken along line 88 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of a bracket for locking the book stop assembly in a selected position upon a vertical post member.

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of still another form of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 in still another form of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front elevational view of still another form of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken on line 13-13 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIG. 11.

Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3 thereof, a book stop assembly 15 made in accordance with one form of the present invention is shown to comprise a lock means 1% including a stop member 30 and lug means as at 38 for releasable engagement with vertically spaced apart slots 40 in a vertical standard 2.8 of the type conventionally used with open book end shelf systems employing shelves 32 in supported brackets 34. A clamp plate 18 is mounted upon the lock means 16 for clamping engagement with at least a single shaft 214 and forming a mounting member extending normal to the standard 28. A set screw 2% is threadedly engaged with the lock means 16 for exerting pressure upon the clamp plate 18 to secure the shafts in any adjusted position longitudinally with respect to the shelf 32.

Each shaft 24 is provided with an end piece m6 for supporting a row of books, as shown in FIG. 1, in any desired position relative to the length of the shelf 32.

It will now be recognized that by adjusting the vertical position of the stop member 30, the end pieces 26 can be positioned relative to the height of the book shelf 32, and that by adjusting the lock means formed by the set screw 20' and the clamp plate 18, the end pieces 2-6 on the shaft 24 can be conveniently adjusted laterally to position the books in any desired location or arrangement along the length of the book shelves 32.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4- of the drawing which illustrates a slightly modified form of mounting stop member 36 having lugs 38 for engagement with the slots 40 of the standard 23, and having a set screw 42 for locking the member 36 in any desired vertical position upon the standard and relative to the book shelves 32. This member 36 has mounting holes 35 for securing the lock means 16 thereto, such plate 3 6 replacing the channelshaped mounting stop member 30' of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. of the drawing, still another form of shaft 44 of the present invention hereinafter referred to as double-rod shaft, is shown to include a mounting member having a pair of spaced apart parallel rods i6, each having a plurality of downwardly depending teeth 48 selectively slidably received within selected ones of the slots 40 of the standard 28. One end of this shaft 44 is provided with an end piece 50, which end piece is provided with projections 51 that extend rearwardly toward the wall to steady the shaft 44- relative to the wall and to compensate for the thickness of the standard 28 to maintain a row of books in a selected position at all times. :In this form of the invention, the shaft 44 may be adjusted vertically upon the standard 28 relative to the shelves 32 simply by disengaging and replacing the mounting teeth 43 at the desired level. This device is adjusted along the length of the shelves 32 by the variety of teeth members 48 provided along the length of the rods 46, any of which may be selectively used.

In FIG. 7 of the drawing, a still further embodiment of double-rod shaft 52 of the present invention is shown to include a substantially one-piece main mounting member having a pair of spaced apart parallel rods 54 with offset teeth 56 extending normal to the rods 54 but the teeth on each rod extending in a direction away from the teeth on the other of said rods 54 for engagement in opposite directions in vertically spaced apart slots 40 of the standards 28. One end of the rods 54 is joined by a perpendicular outwardly extending U-shaped end piece 58 which serves as a book stop and a bight portion for connecting the rods 54 together. Wall stop elements 60 carried by each one of the rods 54 adjacent to the end piece 58, make up for the space between the bars 54 and the wall caused by the thickness of the standard 28, to prevent angling movement of the main mounting member during use. it will be understood that the construction of the shaft 52 with the bight portion 58 makes it possible to squeeze the rods 54 together to engage or disengage the teeth 56 with or from the slots 40' of the standard 28.

In FIG. 9 of the drawing, an adapter plate 62 is shown to be of generally channel-shaped cross-sectional configuration for secured engagement upon a vertical riser or standard 68 by means of a set screw 66, which plate 62 is provided with a pair of outwardly extending lugs 70 having apertures 72 therewithin for receiving the lock teeth of the main mounting members of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 hr gh 8 of the present invention, thus facilitating the use of these devices on standards of any desired type, whether slotted or not.

In FIG. 10 of the drawing is still another form of the present invention wherein shaft 74 is shown to include a main mounting member 76 slidably received within a transversely extending slot 78 of a mounting block 80 having a plurality of detents 82 receiveable within indents 84' formed along the length of a lock bar 86 that is carried by means of links 88, $0 upon pivots 92 for parallel movement with respect to the main mounting member '76. A spring 94 normally urges the lock bar 8 6 in one longitudinal direction causing it to move away from the main mounting member 7 6 into locking engagement with the de tents 82 of the block 80. However, actuation of the lever arm in an opposite direction enables the detents to be disengaged for adjusting the position of the assembly laterally with respect to the block 80, which blocks can be mounted in any desired manner upon a standard 23 of a book shelf assembly. One end of the main mounting member 76 is provided with an end piece 95 to serve as a book stop during use.

In FIGS. 11 and 14 of the drawing is still another form of the present invention in which the assembly is shown to include a pair of shafts 10 2 and 102a each having an end piece 184 at one end and both being relatively slidably mounted within a slot 106 in a block 168. This block we pivotally supports a rock lever 1-12 upon a mounting lug 110. A detent 114 pivotally supported at one end by means of a pin 115 upon one end of the rock lever 112 extends through an opening 114a in the bracket 108 into releasable engagement with indents 116 formed along the length of both of the shafts 102 and 102a. The opposite end of the lever 112 is encircled by a compression spring 118 normally urging the detent 114 into locking engagement with the indents formed along the length of the shafts 102 and 1020!. it will thus be recognized that by actuating the handle portion 112a of the lock lever 112, as by a tug on the cord or cable P the shafts can be selectively engaged and disengaged for adjusting the position of the shafts 102 relative to each other and to the block 108 to adjust the lateral position of the end pieces 10 4. As with the other forms of the invention, the block :108 can be mounted in any desired manner upon a standard 2-8 of a book shelf assembly, wherein a book shelf 32 is supported on brackets 34 having lugs 38a which are selectively engaged in slots 40 in the vertical standards 28. Each shaft is provided adjacent its end plate 104 with a wall stop 51b which extends rearwardly toward the wall, filling the gap between the shafts and the wall, to resist rearward angling of the shafts.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 12 and 13 of the drawings, wherein a further modification of the invention is shown to include a lock means 161) having suitable means (not shown) for adjustable mounting upon the standard 2 8. This lock means 16b includes a pair of spaced apart flanges 120 provided with aligned openings releasably supporting a securement pin 121. Slidably mounted between these flanges 120 is one shaft 24!) of a shaft assembly 25a. A plurality of longitudinally spaced apart apertures 12-2 in this shaft 24b provides means for adjusting the position of the shaft 24b between the flanges 120 of the lock means 16b, the pin 121 extending through any one of the apertures 122 depending upon the adjustment desired.

An end piece 25a is secured to one end of the shaft 24b, whereas the opposite end of this shaft is slidably receivable within an auxiliary lock means 16a within which one end of the other shaft 24a of the shaft assembl 25a is mounted. A thumb screw Zita carried by the auxiliary lock means 16a provides means for adjusting the relative positions of the two shafts 24a, 24b, of this assembly. An end plate 26a is also secured to the free end of the other shaft 24a, which is also provided with a projection 51a that extends rearwardly toward the wall to steady the shaft assembly 25a relative to the wall and to compensate for the thickness of the standard 28. One of the main features of this form of the invention is that when the end of a book shelf is closely adjacent to a standard 28 it is possible to adjust the end plate remote from the standard relative to said standard 28 and relative to the end of the shelf, without having either shaft project outwardly beyond the end of the shelf.

In this arrangement the auxiliary lock means 16a is not directly supported upon the standard for adjusting the relative positions between the shafts, but the lock means connecting the shaft assembly to the standard provides an additional adjustment for positioning the entire shaft assembly relative to the standard and the shelf.

It will now be appreciated that a book stop assembly has been provided which can be conveniently supported independently of the shelves upon which the books are carried, for selected vertical and horizontal adjustment relative to said shelves for supporting books in any desired location along the shelf.

An important feature of the present invention is that an assembly has been provided which has shafts extending substantially parallel to the shelves themselves, and which includes book stop end pieces extending laterally of the shelves for supporting such books thereuponwithout dependence upon frictional engagement with the shelf, thus effectively preventing displacement of the books from the open ends thereof.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claim appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In an open end book shelf, a book stop comprising, in

combination, a main support secured to a wall, a pair of shafts, means supporting said shafts, for vertical and horizontal adjustment upon said main support and an end piece immovably secured to one end of each said shaft and extending horizontally forwardly at right angles therefrom, and a wall stop extending rearwardlly from each said shaft adjacent to the end pieces, to fill the gap between said shaft and said wall to resist rearward angling of the shafts, said means comprising a member having securement means for attachment to said support and having adjustable rneans securing selective longitudinally spaced apart portions of said shafts to effect lateral adjustment of the position of said end pieces relative to each other and relative to said support, each of said shafts having a plurality of longitudinally spaced indents, and said member having detent means engageable with selective ones of said indents, and means for yieldingly maintaining said detent means and indents in interengagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 773,972 Palmenberg Nov. ,1, 1904 11,184,246 Klein May 23, 1916 1,822,175 Snyder Sept. 8, H931 1,918,457 Dowell July 118, 1933 2,040,315 Kress May =12, 51936 2,061,937 Fay Nov. 24, 1936 2,136,109 Kress Nov. 8, 1938 2,262,581 Gonczy Nov. 11, 1941 2,744,714 Parke May 8, 1956 2,982,423 Handler May 2, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 794,0'35 Great Britain Apr. 30, 1958 

